FIH Men's Junior WC: Team India gear up for crucial match against Poland

After a remarkable 13-1 win over Canada in Group B match of FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, Team India will look to seal a spot in the quarter-finals when they take on Poland on Saturday.

Speaking on the importance of the win, Chief Coach Graham Reid stated in an official release, "It was really important to get to a good start against Canada and finish away with some good goals. Very important win from the mental perspective ahead of the match against Poland."

India had lost their first match 4-5 against France on Wednesday. While reflecting on the team's performance so far, Reid said, "We are creating enough opportunities. We need to work on the conversion rate. We are a bit leaky at the back."

"We need to be stronger and get in front a little more. We were better against Canada. The best way to learn is to make mistakes. We learned from our loss to France. We missed out on this learning phase for a couple of years due to Covid, but it was good we learned quickly," he added.

Speaking on the prospect of facing strong teams in the knockout stage, the Chief Coach asserted, "If we beat Poland on Saturday, we may face Belgium in the next stage. But to win FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, you must beat everybody. After losing to France, it became clear to us that we have to win every game to win back-to-back titles. It gives us a bit of clarity."

( With inputs from ANI )